There are a number of techniques used by match making systems (e.g., online match making systems) to match people. One technique is to use specified preferences and provided demographics to match people. For example, one person may specify he is interested in women who live within 10 miles, with black hair, ages 35-45, and who are college graduates. The system then matches that person with people based on the information each person in the system provides (e.g., about their gender, residence, physical description, age, education, etc.). Another technique is to match people based on psychographic data. In some cases (e.g., used by eHarmony.com) specified preferences and psychographic data are used to make matches. Using the psychographic data, the system selects matches based on an estimated satisfaction.
In some cases, one or both of the people in a match do not respond positively to the other person. For example, a match making system may make 10 matches for a user and sends information about the 10 selected match candidates to the person being matched. In some cases, the person being matched reviews the information (e.g., a picture, a self-description, etc.) but decides not to contact one or more of the selected match candidates. Some or all of the matches are thus underutilized or are “wasted.” In some cases, two people who are matched contact each other but decide not to pursue further contact (e.g., after a written exchange, a telephone call, or an in-person meeting). It would be desirable if new techniques were developed in which the person being matched is more likely to reach out to the selected match candidates and/or the matched people are more likely to continue contacting each other after an initial in-person meeting or other form of contact.